Production was mainly handled by Dwele himself, in addition to G-1, Dwayne Bastiany, Jake and the Phatman, Pete Kuzma, Joint Custody, and Ronald "Ron E." Estill, who also served as executive producer together with Timothy Maynor.

"[3] John Bush of AllMusic noted "Mostly self-produced and recorded at his home in Detroit, Subject favors the gauzy beats-and-bliss production style of Slum Village auteur Jay Dee.

remarked "Dwele's sound is organically soulful, couched in watery layers of Fender Rhodes keyboards and topped off by the smooth ambience of his spoken word cum rap vocal style.

While that first EP entitled Rize, featured musical nuggets that sometimes only lasted a minute and veered into unexpected yet undeniably dope sonic directions, Subject finds Dwele's songwriting adhering closer to traditional song structure.

"[4] Christopher Sanders of the Miami New Times wrote "Singer/producer Dwele's debut album, Subject, is an exploration of the many idiosyncrasies that exist between lovers, set to a lush backdrop that is neither annoyingly contrived nor forcefully retro.